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  #1  
Old 11-09-2010, 04:35 AM
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helbent4 helbent4 is offline
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Originally Posted by natehale1971 View Post
It's one of the things i enjoyed that Chris said that GMs and Players would be able to decide when TEOTWAWKI Event actually happened.
Nate,

It seems to me many PDs change the timeline simply to accommodate their favourite pet "3G toys" (Guns, Gear and/or Ground vehicles) or feel because WWIII didn't happen before the Cold War ended and therefore it's "outdated". I liked someone else's rationale for the canon timeline: TMP is set an alternative timeline (which is literally true according to TM 1-1) so just go with it. We may never get to the time when Damocles is possible and TEOTWAWKI hasn't happened, so why chase a target that recedes as time goes on? In an alternative timeline, rogue AIs like Damocles are just as plausible as cryotubes, fusion power, powered armour and miraculous medical advances.

I love your origin for cryotube technology, but again, it's an alternative timeline and many things are possible.

My understanding from people who worked on the 4th edition is that players and PDs aren't going to be given the choice on TEOTWAWKI, including the original Cold War timeline. The only information and background available is for an "updated" Project timeline, take it or leave it. If 4th ed. ever comes out I hope it's better and more successful than other well-meaning "improvements" on well-loved games like T2013 and Mega-Traveller/TNE/T20/G:T, etc. Or at least more flexible and inclusive. My information on 4th ed. TMP is secondhand and may be incorrect.

The Cold War is over and Communism is no longer a dire threat to our daily lives. Updating TMP to modern times makes it pale and generic compared to the existential horror of the Cold War that we lived through.

Tony

Last edited by helbent4; 11-09-2010 at 06:26 AM.
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  #2  
Old 11-09-2010, 10:22 AM
whassupman03 whassupman03 is offline
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Default Morrow Project Divisions

Hello...

Hey, I'm back. Sorry I haven't talked for a while - large amounts of college work have been my focus for the time being. I just wanted to add my two cents about the organization of the Morrow Project in the US and Canada.

As you may know, the Morrow Project was divided into a number of divisions with independent responsibilities. As you were welcome to suggestions, I came up with one. So if you don't mind Natehale1971, I borrowed from your collection of teams and tried to divide them into a number of divisions. This is kind of a rough draft, so I would probably need to correct them. Well here it goes...

Morrow Project Command
  • Command & Control Team
  • Operations Team
  • Special Purpose Team
Combat Division
  • MARS Team
  • RAT Team
Engineering Division
  • Decontamination Team
  • Engineering & Construction Team
  • Logistics & Supply Team
  • Maintenance & Support Team
  • Power Generation & Reception Team
Humanitarian Division
  • Agricultural Team (I originally thought that this would fall under Engineering, but I decided to put it in the Humanitarian Division.)
  • Civil Affairs Team
  • Health & Medical Team
  • Personnel & Training Team
  • Psychological Operations Team
Recon Division: This only encompasses the recon teams.

Science Division: This only encompasses the science teams.

Transportation Division
  • Aviation Team
  • Maritime Team
Independent Teams
  • Frozen Watch Team (Perhaps this comes under the direction of Morrow Project Command?)
  • Phoenix Team

So what do you think? I went over it a couple of times and divided them based on the positions available in the particular teams. If I missed something, let me know, and of course feel free to comment. Take care...

whassupman03
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  #3  
Old 11-09-2010, 11:08 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whassupman03 View Post
Morrow Project Command
  • Command & Control Team
  • Operations Team
  • Special Purpose Team
Combat Division
  • MARS Team
  • RAT Team
Engineering Division
  • Decontamination Team
  • Engineering & Construction Team
  • Logistics & Supply Team
  • Maintenance & Support Team
  • Power Generation & Reception Team
Humanitarian Division
  • Agricultural Team (I originally thought that this would fall under Engineering, but I decided to put it in the Humanitarian Division.)
  • Civil Affairs Team
  • Health & Medical Team
  • Personnel & Training Team
  • Psychological Operations Team
Recon Division: This only encompasses the recon teams.

Science Division: This only encompasses the science teams.

Transportation Division
  • Aviation Team
  • Maritime Team
Independent Teams
  • Frozen Watch Team (Perhaps this comes under the direction of Morrow Project Command?)
  • Phoenix Team

So what do you think? I went over it a couple of times and divided them based on the positions available in the particular teams. If I missed something, let me know, and of course feel free to comment. Take care...

whassupman03
I like what you did!

The only thing I would change would be adding a Division for Supply & Support that would include the Logistics & Supply and Maintenance & Support Teams... A logistics network type of division since they would have a MAJOR aspect that deserves their own division... much like any large chain store has it's logistics network, the project would dedicate a MAJOR part of it's pre-TEOTWAWKI Event time in setting this up. The networks of Supply Depots and Maintenance Depots would be scattered all over the place with either their own aviation assets, or Aviation teams set up NEAR them or Medical Facilities.

The Phoenix Team would definately be outside the framework of other teams, because only the Council For Tomorrow and Morrow himself really knew about the Phoenix Team.

Frozen Watch teams would be under Command (should be called Operations) Division since they are reinforcements. Personnel & Training teams should also be in this division since they are your training and education infrastructure... and during the operations of the Project, they can help set up schools for general education.
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Fuck being a hero. Do you know what you get for being a hero? Nothing! You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah blah blah, attaboy! You get divorced... Your wife can't remember your last name, your kids don't want to talk to you... You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me kid, nobody wants to be that guy. I do this because there is nobody else to do it right now. Believe me if there was somebody else to do it, I would let them do it. There's not, so I'm doing it.

Last edited by natehale1971; 11-09-2010 at 11:29 AM.
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  #4  
Old 11-09-2010, 02:45 PM
whassupman03 whassupman03 is offline
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Default MP Divisional Structure v0.2

Hello...

Quote:
Originally Posted by natehale1971 View Post
I like what you did!
Thanks!

Quote:
Originally Posted by natehale1971 View Post
The only thing I would change would be adding a Division for Supply & Support that would include the Logistics & Supply and Maintenance & Support Teams... A logistics network type of division since they would have a MAJOR aspect that deserves their own division... much like any large chain store has it's logistics network, the project would dedicate a MAJOR part of it's pre-TEOTWAWKI Event time in setting this up. The networks of Supply Depots and Maintenance Depots would be scattered all over the place with either their own aviation assets, or Aviation teams set up NEAR them or Medical Facilities.
Good point.

Quote:
Originally Posted by natehale1971 View Post
Frozen Watch teams would be under Command (should be called Operations) Division since they are reinforcements. Personnel & Training teams should also be in this division since they are your training and education infrastructure... and during the operations of the Project, they can help set up schools for general education.
Yep. Operations does sound like a better name for MP Command. I'll take that into advisement. The big reason why I put Personnel & Training within the Humanitarian Division was simply because I thought they educated everyone, not just MP personnel, but also the local populations as well.

Here's the redone version (aka v0.2 , I'll turn it into v1.0 when we have corrected all the kinks...) of the MP Divisional Structure...

Operations Division:
  • Command & Control Team
  • Frozen Watch Team
  • Operations Team
  • Personnel & Training Team
  • Special Purpose Team
Combat Division:
  • MARS Team
  • RAT Team
Engineering Division:
  • Decontamination Team
  • Engineering & Construction Team
  • Power Generation & Reception Team
Humanitarian Division:
  • Agricultural Team
  • Civil Affairs Team
  • Health & Medical Team
  • Psychological Operations Team
Recon Division: This only encompasses the recon teams.

Science Division: This only encompasses the science teams.

Supply & Support Division:
  • Logistics & Supply Team
  • Maintenance & Support Team
Transportation Division:
  • Aviation Team
  • Maritime Team
Independent Teams:
  • Phoenix Team
Well I hope that works better. Take care and have a nice day.

whassupman03
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  #5  
Old 11-09-2010, 11:28 AM
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natehale1971 natehale1971 is offline
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Originally Posted by helbent4 View Post
Nate,

It seems to me many PDs change the timeline simply to accommodate their favourite pet "3G toys" (Guns, Gear and/or Ground vehicles) or feel because WWIII didn't happen before the Cold War ended and therefore it's "outdated". I liked someone else's rationale for the canon timeline: TMP is set an alternative timeline (which is literally true according to TM 1-1) so just go with it. We may never get to the time when Damocles is possible and TEOTWAWKI hasn't happened, so why chase a target that recedes as time goes on? In an alternative timeline, rogue AIs like Damocles are just as plausible as cryotubes, fusion power, powered armour and miraculous medical advances.
I like pushing the timeline back (and explaining thus explaining how timelines get altered due to the efforts of the project to advert TEOTWAWKI Event) so that all these 'far-out' advanced technologies don't totally blow the 'suspension of disbelief' when you're playing with people who are knowledgeable about high technology (when we played when i was in the Navy, there was a nuclear machinist mate, a radioman, a Ops specialist and many others who knew about these kinds of things... and my last group had a college physics professor).

By pushing the timeline back to 2012 allows for this, and the fifty years that the project had to set up, makes it more believable for such 'out-there' advanced tech.. and for the project to take the long term approach of building up. While the initial belief was that TEOTWAWKI Event was to have happened in 1989, because that was when it happened BEFORE Morrow had made his first jump back in time and before he created the Council For Tomorrow.

But their actions had pushed the timeline back, and when dealing with anything that has 'time travel' in it.. this is more than plausible... and allows for the PD/GM to decide which of the timelines they can end up playing in.

But as i said, it's not really been to have more cool toys for teams to play with... it's always really been more to allow for some of my players to have the 'suspension of disbelief'

Quote:
I love your origin for cryotube technology, but again, it's an alternative timeline and many things are possible.
Thank you. Using the alternate timeline comes from Morrow's ability to jump through time. It's why my timeline starts at 1900, when one of Morrow's jumps did something that created the Butterfly effect to cause TEOTWAWKI in 1989, then pushed it back after the creation of the Council for/of Tomorrow. And so on... it's fun when you get a chance to play around with time.

I like my explanation of Krell more than the one in the others i've seen that he was either the embezzler or an rogue Air Force General who killed Maxwell of Maxwell's Militia and split the recovering USA (that one goes against what was said in Prime Base about Krell using a nuke right after the war).

I did use the idea of Krell having military experience as part of his education thanks to Morrow, and the fact that he was BEM's protegee to make his betrayal of the Project all the more painful.

Quote:
My understanding from people who worked on the 4th edition is that players and PDs aren't going to be given the choice on TEOTWAWKI, including the original Cold War timeline. The only information and background available is for an "updated" Project timeline, take it or leave it. If 4th ed. ever comes out I hope it's better and more successful than other well-meaning "improvements" on well-loved games like T2013 and Mega-Traveller/TNE/T20/G:T, etc. Or at least more flexible and inclusive. My information on 4th ed. TMP is secondhand and may be incorrect.
I really hated what they did with the new 2320AD, it totally blew chunks, and as much as i liked some of the things they did with T2013... they really screwed the pooch with that one. They had the ability to do so much with it, but to many people i had to game with just didn't want to do it after they read 'Shall not Parish' because they KNEW the President didn't have the power to do what he did in that short story... and it just killed their suspension of disbelief to get into the game. and believe me, i tried for a year and half to get them to play it... even with promises of changing the background... they just were turned off by that to much.

Quote:
The Cold War is over and Communism is no longer a dire threat to our daily lives. Updating TMP to modern times makes it pale and generic compared to the existential horror of the Cold War that we lived through.

Tony
Yeah... exactly. Thus any new version of The Morrow Project has to include something that causes people today to have that same kind of fear and horror that we had at that time. And in all honesty... pushing the timeline back to 2012 allows that easier. because most kids today would think... wait the world ended in 1989? I wasn't born yet. Screw that. I'm not playing that game.
__________________
Fuck being a hero. Do you know what you get for being a hero? Nothing! You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah blah blah, attaboy! You get divorced... Your wife can't remember your last name, your kids don't want to talk to you... You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me kid, nobody wants to be that guy. I do this because there is nobody else to do it right now. Believe me if there was somebody else to do it, I would let them do it. There's not, so I'm doing it.
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  #6  
Old 11-26-2010, 07:42 PM
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helbent4 helbent4 is offline
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Originally Posted by natehale1971 View Post
Yeah... exactly. Thus any new version of The Morrow Project has to include something that causes people today to have that same kind of fear and horror that we had at that time. And in all honesty... pushing the timeline back to 2012 allows that easier. because most kids today would think... wait the world ended in 1989? I wasn't born yet. Screw that. I'm not playing that game.
Nate,

My apologies for not responding to this from a while back.

The "young-un's don't care for the Cold War" rationale has been dragged up to justify a "reboot" or update of TMP, but it's never washed for me. Maybe I just hang with strange kids, who know and care about the Cold War.

Some of the best gaming I've done was running and playing Recon, set during the Vietnam war (or American war, depending on the side). This was despite it being a conflict I was similarly only dimly aware of, being born on January 31, 1968. Having played Recon was at least partially responsible for my wife and I spending over a month in Viet Nam earlier this year and visiting historical sites all along the DMZ and in Sai Gon. I'm sure you'd call me a fool if I seriously suggested that an RPG set during the Vietnam war really needed to be updated in order to keep it "relevant" for those of us too young to personally remember it or the times.

This belief is partly from personal experience, because I've run TMP for players who weren't born or were too young to remember the Cold War, yet this wasn't a big deal for them. Mostly because the ones who know any history still find the Cold War relevant (or at least learned about it in school and are familiar with it) and those who don't aren't the ones to really care about stuff like background or TEOTWAWKI, anyways (that's so Y2K, man).

(Hmmm, on the not-so-serious side, let's see...

The then-new M16 was considered a crappy weapon back then, so naturally replace that piece of junk and equip all the US forces in Viet Nam with the later M4s or maybe G36s... no wait, the HK 416 is really hip right now! So are Strykers and battlefield information networks, so give the PCs all laptops, too. And Twitter accounts. Communism is basically dead so the bad guys should be fighting not for an outdated ideology but instead be radical Islamo-fascists fighting to create a Muslim state under Sharia law in Southeast Asia. May as well rename the VC "al qaeda in Viet Nam" and the NVA/Russians the "Chinese" just to make them much more topical and immediate. (Of course this may seem like an illogical, but the Chinese are certainly capable of realpolitik and could be playing the same game as the Pakistani ISI.) Oh yeah, the Cold War is gone, so better change the conflict to the Global War on Terror. There, that should interest the kids! I mean, seriously, who cares about a war that was fought and lost decades ago? People can only barely remember what happened in the last 10 minutes!

Of course, I'm just kidding, no one in their right mind would make these changes and expect to still capture anything of the Vietnam war.)

For most people nowadays, nuclear Armageddon (as we all called it back then) is something that belongs in the past. Thus taking it out of the past and setting it nowadays actually removes much of the existential dread and fear that gave TMP and other games such an emotional and power. (Some people still do fear TEOTWAWKI and not without good reason, but after Y2K it's mostly spent and irrelevant as a larger cultural force. Nothing like it was during the Cold War, you have to admit.)

Tony
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